In the News: custodian arrested, office hours, fiscal policies

Franklin custodian arrested on possession of child pornography

A custodian employed by the town of Franklin was arrested yesterday by Taunton police on a warrant charging possession of child pornography.

State Rep. Roy announces office hours in Franklin, Medway

State Rep. Jeffrey Roy (D-Franklin) will hold office hours in Medway and Franklin during November.

Franklin FinCom to review new fiscal policies

Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting on Tuesday gave the Finance Committee an overview of newly drafted fiscal policies, which he hopes officials can use as a guide as they tackle, one by one, looming budget challenges.

Live reporting - Legislation for action, closing

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
1. Resolution 13-82 : Adoption of Town Council Procedures Manual
motion to move approval of this to the next full meeting, approved

2. Bylaw Amendment 13-724: Amendment to Chapter 82, Appendix A, List of Service Fee Rates- 1st Reading
move bylaw amendment to second reading, passed to 2nd reading
addition of a 7 days from the time of purchase to the fee listing

annual fee, not a dump it is a recycling center, for fiscal year, July to next June
would it be good to consider a punch card system, we did and it would create more issues
$10 for 7 days, what a bargain?

amendment to adjust to 10 days, motion passed

would consider adding days and hours, it will cost more money... I haven't gotten calls on this

Cerel - until you adopt this, you don't have procedures in place
procedural nuts and bolts stuff, may have to spend some time in a council session before understanding how it is used

you did move this already to the next full meeting
put this on the workshop for next week and approve then


K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
congratulations to the new council
working on a 5 year fiscal forecast, will be on agenda fro Jan 2014
starting capital budget process after the holidays
less free cash than usual

do need an executive session this evening


L. OLD BUSINESS
Bissanti - Bldg commissioner did chance the bldg owners down and I want to thank him for that

M. NEW BUSINESS
Bissanti - flag situation for veterans, discussion with the Elks, they would be honored to handle it
Nutting- happy to talk about it

Kelly - can we get an update on the parking office, get an overview on the report tickets, expenses
future agenda to get back to the parking meter conversation

Mercer - if you'd like an update on the high school, I can bring you up to speed

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Padula - thanks to the voters, I appreciate the opportunity for serving
we are second to none with the police dept we have here

Mercer - echo comments on re-election to the Council

Kelly - echo comments, congratulations to Ken Norman

Vallee - this is going to be a very aggressive council, with a lot of changes coming

Pfeffer - thanks to Bob Fahey for the veterans breakfast, Dean College for their Veterans, I want to thanks the nuns at St Mary's Abbey for winning a clean energy award

Jones - thanks to the voters for returning me to my third term

Bissanti - touched and honored by the out pouring of support at the election. This Council will react to what you say. We will be proactive not reactive and will give direction for the next two years

Williams - extremely humbled by the vote and confidence you have expressed in mean, I was disappointed in the turn out of 11.5%. Our solders veterans, gave their lives for us to vote, it is not just a right a privilege

Vallee - announced the committee assignments as follows. Chair for each of the committee will be announced later.

BudgetMercer, Feldman, Bissanti, Padula 

CapitalPfeffer, Kelly, Williams, Vallee 

EconomicKelly, Bissanti , Jones, Vallee

O.EXECUTIVE SESSION
Real Property, Fire Negotiations

motion to go to Exec session, will not reconvene in open meeting
9-0, unanimous vote via roll call

Live reporting - Downtown Project

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
Presentation by DPW on Downtown Project 

Robert (Brutus) Cantoreggi, Director of the DPW

older presentation with some minor updates as the details were finalized
A copy of the presentation is contained in the document (PDF)
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_CouncilAgendas/2013/111313.pdf

Currently a left turn on Main St from West Central is allowed, it won't be when Main St goes two way

the water trough, sign and holiday tree can still fit on the island on the bridge

some of the trees maybe replaced but there will be trees located downtown

the crosswalk at Dean will be moved to the corner on W Central St (away from the position in the middle where it is today)

discussion began in 2002, MassDOT construction bids will open in Jan 2014
MassDOT will be running the job, DPW will be coordinating but not controlling the work

'it is going to be a pain, there will be some aggravation downtown until it is finished"

Q - will there be a place holder for the veterans flags?
A - you can use banners or flags as banners

Q - horrendous record of taking care of trees downtown
A - we do the best we can with the budget we have, the budget has been cut since I have been here. Eventually they will need maintenance. The most difficult thing is about urban trees is when they have to get taken down. Most street trees will fail due to the conditions downtown.

I want those trees to succeed downtown, that is the way we want to go. Some of those there are dense leaf trees are not good for that location. Looking at Pennsylvania Elm trees

Q - what do we do with the parking meters? The flags currently hang off the parking meters?
A - We have been meeting with the Downtown Partnership and will be coming back to the Council for a decision, we have time for that.

Q - a tree adoption program?
A - It is a great idea and works as long as the business owner, I don't wan't to be the tree police.

Lisa Piana - I can check with others where it has been done to see if this is something we can do here
We want the trees to grow and not block the signage. We should have a lot less headache with the trees planned

Q - What is the crosswalk going to do to the plows?
A - the first time through they'll learn, it shouldn't be a problem

Q - I was at Dean the other day and they are concerned about the construction
A - Actually I don't know when it will really switch, they have more engineers than we do. They would have to complete the crosswalks, sidewalks, etc.

Q - bike lane?
A - No, no room for it downtown. The roads downtown is too narrow

Q - can we put this on the web?
A - once we have a contractor and updates, we'll be sharing more. On the Franklin webpage
We could hold a pubic hear so we know dates and schedules. It will really be up to MassDOT

Q - We should have had a say in these details.
A - We need to know the answers, the residents are not going to want to go to DOT or to elsewhere

Lisa Piana - I just want to add a couple of comments. The Partnership is very excited for this project. now it is going to start, they are very nervous. It will be horrible during but after, it will be beautiful. Once we get the dates, it will be available on our website as well.

Live reporting - Appointments

F. CITIZEN COMMENTS
none

G. APPOINTMENTS
• Conservation Commission - Steven Younis, Mark Cataldo
motion to approve, seconded, approved 9-0

• Cultural Council - Craig Schwalb
motion to approve, seconded, approved 9-0

• Historical Commission - Minessa Konecky
motion to approve, seconded, approved 9-0

• Library Board of Directors - Linda Hardin
motion to approve, seconded, approved 9-0

• Franklin Community Garden Committee - Bonnie Kaiden
motion to approve, seconded, approved 9-0

F. HEARINGS
none

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
none

Live reporting: Town Council - 11/13/13

Present: Feldman, Padula, Mercer, Kelly, Vallee, Pfeffer, Jones, Bissanti, Williams
Absent: none


A. SWEARING IN OF NEW COUNCIL

Town Clerk Deb Pellegri with the new Franklin Town Council

B. ORGANIZATION
Election of Officers

nomination of Chair - Bob Vallee - approved
nomination of Vice-Chair - Matt Kelly - approved
nomination of Clerk - Judy Pfeffer - approved

C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Sept. 11, 2013, Sept. 25, 2013,Oct. 2, 2013
motion to approve, seconded, passed 6-0

D. ANNOUNCEMENTS


E. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
Citizenship Award – Ken Norman

Council Chair Bob Vallee, Ken Norman, Council Vice-chair Matt Kelly

Fallen Hero: Airman 1C Russell W. Shaw

Airman 1C Russell W. Shaw was born on June 30, 1952, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Shaw. Russell lived with his parents and four sisters at 561 Lincoln St. A 1970 graduate of Franklin High School Russell enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in July of that year. 

Airman Shaw graduated with honors from a technical training course at Sheppard AFB, Texas. He learned to maintain and service turbo-propeller aircraft and was assigned to Clark AFB for duty with a unit of the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service. 

Airman Shaw was killed in a motoring accident while serving at Clark Air Force Base, the Philippines on April 9, 1971. 

Airman 1C Russell W. Shaw was 18 years old at the time of his death while serving during the Vietnam War.

Airman 1C Russell W. Shaw

Airman 1C Russell W. Shaw, street sign

Franklin girls soccer season ends 2-1 to Newton North

Franklin opened the scoring early in the second half but Newton North was able to quickly respond and scoring the game winner with under 10 minutes to play as the Tigers ended the Panther's season, 2-1.

Read the full story on the HockomockSport.com webpage here
http://www.hockomocksports.com/1/post/2013/11/franklin-girls-soccer-falls-in-d1-state-semifinals.html